The present invention relates to an apparatus for mass production of vulcanized rubber articles and more particularly to improvements in a three-deck injection and compression and/or transfer molding press which greatly increases the rate of production.
Heretofore, it has been standard practice to employ three-deck molding presses and the like for production of small vulcanized rubber articles, such presses having two separate curing molds. Prior to this invention, the three-deck presses were operated using a cycle wherein both molds were held open for a period of time, such as one to three minutes, to permit unloading, cleaning, coating and reloading and were thereafter closed and maintained under high pressure for another three minutes or more to vulcanize the article to the desired elastic state. During this forming period, with compression presses, both molds were "bumped" by temporarily reducing and reapplying the high pressure so as to eliminate defects due to entrapped gases. Both molds were either open or closed and at the same stage in the molding process.